Homework? What homework?

Okay, so tomorrow we have a test in language, which usually ain't so bad except that this week is prefixed verbs of motion. I have the review sheet down, but there are still so many verbs I don't really know, and I'm afraid Konstantine is going to throw something out of left field. I also have to take the Дама с собачкой vocab quiz since I missed it the other day.

I'm incredibly behind in culture readings - I still have to do Blok, Bely, and whatever is due next Tuesday plus the Mirsky readings. Not too fond of that class. It's hard to find time to do it - if I'm going to be doing homework, 99 times out of 100 I'll put the L5 work at higher priority.

Today during the lunch break a bunch of us went to Евразия, a Japanese restaurant chain. The food was pretty good but it took FOREVER to come.

I'm also unclear on what the homework is, because we're somewhat behind on the schedule. I'll see what I can manage, I suppose. My back is killing me (no good chairs in my apartment, which is pretty much where I have to study.)

Traveler's woes...

So on Monday night I started feeling a bit ill, and to spare you the gory details, over the next 48 hours I had some painful, inconvenient and exhausting symptoms [although I am proud to say that I still have not thrown up since I was 9 years old. It will be 10 years this November...] I'm on Cipro now as well as Pepto Bismol, Tigan (anti-nausea drug) and a bit of Imodium, so that should clear things up.

I didn't go to class today, on the advice of my professor, and I also missed the tour of Pushkin's apartment. I'm kind of (read: a lot) behind in my coursework but I trust that people will be understanding. It's lonely here and all I've been doing is sleeping, to tell you the truth, interspersed with trips to the bathroom. My only company today was Fedya, who really was just using me as his maid-service.

Despite some severe stomach cramps that woke me up from my nap about 4 pm, I was feeling well enough for dinner, which was a delicious healthy meal.

Speaking of which, despite my stomach symptoms (which I attribute to stress, too many cherries plus perhaps ingestion of the local water, followed by maybe antibiotic-associated death of probiotics in the intestine) I'm actually feeling rather enthused about the food I've had here so far... here's what dinner's been for the past 4 days:

Saturday: Chicken soup, black bread, cherries and chocolate wafer cake
Sunday: Nelya wasn't home, so I had yogurt. This is a rare occurrence, and she did try to feed me when she got home [however, it was really damn late.]
Monday: Stir-fried potatoes with dill and mushrooms, green beans, cherries and dessert
Tuesday: Cooked pickles with cheese (surprisingly delicous) and dessert
Wednesday: Stir-fried chicken with mixed vegetables, whole-grain couscous kasha, and steamed broccoli, plus dessert

Man, I had forgotten how good chicken was. Mmmmmm. "Vegetarian" here means that you don't eat red meat or pork - fish and chicken are still game (so to speak ... hehe) - so I've been eating what my хозяйка prepares, which so far has turned out delicious.

Tomorrow I do heartily plan on having bliny at some point, even if I just leave the house early and make a stop at Теремок. Ouch there's my stomach, probably telling me not to think about food, not get ahead of myself :P

I've been getting by thanks to my handy water filter, it's a bottle with a microfilter attached to the sipper so when you suck the water gets pulled through, filtered for cysts, spores and such, and then treated with some iodine compound to kill bacteria before reaching your mouth.

I just woke up for a bit due to a loud traffic accident, so time to go back to bed. Here's hoping I'll be up to speed in the morning, ready to brave St. Pete anew!

What happened over the past 36 hours?

I wrote these in Word 'cause I didn't have internet. Now I do.

Sunday 20/VI/10 1:33 AM

It’s finally dark outside, not for long I’m sure. These white nights are disorienting – I went to bed at 11 and it was still light outside. My host family is absolutely lovely, my host is named Nelya (she didn’t give me her patronymic, and she calls me ты) and her mother, who also lives in this apartment, is named Nina. Apparently she also has a 17-year-old daughter Katrina, but I've not seen her, and I've been told not to expect to (she has a difficult personality, worse than the cat's, says Nelya). Speaking of which, there is a parrot and a cat here (no dog – the dog died two years ago). The parrot's name is Чика, Chika, and the cat's name is Федя, Fedya. They are both great animals; Fedya acts like a dog in a lot of ways; he’s very curious and sniffs everything. Not a bit frightened, and a total sweetheart.

I had a delicious meal when I arrived, and believe me; the old adage about Russians feeding you and feeding you is in full force. I had chicken soup, toasted black bread, apple juice and a piece of a delicious chocolate-wafer cake. Nelya wanted me to eat more, but I just had to say больше не могу… then I took a nap for a few hours, got up and showered. Nelya knocked on my door with a plate of fruit (cherries and strawberries – yum!) and an ice cream stick (Russian ice cream – nothing better.)

I haven’t done my homework for Monday’s class yet; I’m thinking I’ll do it in the window well of my room. It’s a really big room with a high ceiling and gorgeous wallpaper. The weather here is gorgeous – windy and I’d say about 60-70 degrees. I hope it stays this nice!

I’m up at about 1:45 right now because I set my cell phone for an alarm at what it thought was 1 AM, since when I went to bed it was still on US time. During the interim it seems to have realized it’s not in Kansas anymore, so I was strangely woken up in the middle of the night. Ah, well, no big deal. Tomorrow they’re picking me up at 10:40 to go to the uni for orientation – I’m very excited! We’ll also get our SIM cards for our cell phones, I’ll (hopefully) find an ATM, and I’ll buy an Internet antenna and an extension cord. That’s all for now. Спокойные ночи J

Monday 21/VI/10 9:37 AM

I've got an hour until the other Americans come and pick me up to walk to the university for orientation. I slept very well last night, despite the crazy lack of darkness. It's rainy outside today, so I'm bringing my umbrella along. I just had some yogurt for breakfast; apparently (and luckily?) at least today I am to make my own breakfast. I suppose I'll lie down and read for a bit, set an alarm to make sure I get up with time to meet the other Russkies.

---

Well, that last bit turned out not to be true - Nelya did wake up and feed me (and feed me and feed me) some delicious блины with jam. But I got to the uni on time... theoretically, anyway [Tobi and I waited with Constantine at the time we were supposed to, but Sasha got there late 'cause she was up really late due to the holiday that was yesterday.]

We went to the university, had our third orientation, got SIM cards and maps, and went on a short bus tour of the city (about 3 hours). Professor Firtich appears to be of the opinion that one can survive on culture alone - you don't need food, you weak Americans.

Once we got out I went to an ATM (which was easy to find) and then, with Panos, in search of a place to buy an internet modem. I did buy it, but it was expensive, and it was a hellish nightmare to set up an initial payment for the connection. Now my feet are killing me and I just want to eat dinner, read, and go to bed. Oh yeah, and do my homework, that too.

Layover layover layover

I'm currently sitting in the Club lounge at Heathrow airport. Still an hour before I find out what gate my flight leaves from - which is kind of strange. I wish they'd let us know a little earlier, considering that we only have a half an hour from the time we know our gate until it closes!

In other considerations, I've learned I'll be living on the mainland, not on Vasilevsky island, which gives me a good 45 minute walk / 30 minutes if I take the trolleys up Nevsky to get to the university. I will be living with a woman and her 17-year-old daughter, plus a veritable zoo of animals - parrot, dog, and cat! THAT is exciting.

I asked Professor Firtich what parrots (popugaj is Russian for parrot, and I can't type cyrillic on this keyboard because it's not mine) say in Russian; apparently the phrase is "popka durak" which means either "tush idiot" or "parrot (i.e. me) is an idiot". I'm leaning towards the second, but the coincidence is amusing.

OH MY GOD IN JUST A FEW HOURS I WILL BE IN ST PETERSBURG. CAN YOU £$%&ing believe it? [Proof that I'm using a UK keyboard, since I have a £ sign in my censorship. Word. Or in Russian, yeshcho by.]